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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

I went off the blogging radar in September just before heading out to the Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service and since then life has been quite interesting.

Friends and family have been kept up to date and people who just come here to see quilting, knitting and cat pictures really don't need the whole story so all I'll say here is a quick up date. The day after the service for my sister-in-law (she was a Fire Captain- see older posts) my brother had a massive heart attack and passed away. We were in Colorado for the memorial so dealing with an out of state death was challenging. Since then, as the only surviving family member, I've been flying back and forth between home and California to handle the estate. Changing time zones and weather and life style so frequently has messed with my routine and things like the blog have been forgotten.

The past couple months I have NOT forgotten knitting and quilting. Knitting in an airplane works well if you bring something small. Luckily I've been flying with a friend and she is also a knitter so she understands my need to use those 3 hours to knit.

Here's some of my knitting the past couple months.

I decided to use up some old lace yarn and make some cowls. I made one and kind of got into a grove and before I knew it I had made 3. Then I changed up the stitch pattern a bit and made another one.

The pattern is Liquid Amber by Stacy Simpson Duke and the yarn is Knit Picks Gossamer. This yarn has been in my stash for several years and I notice its no longer available .

I made one in the Pink for a friend's daughter and one in blue and since there was some leftover yarn I made one using both colors every other row.

Then surprise - I still had more yarn so I tried making a pink one using a Fan and feathers stitch (which I forgot to get an individual picture of). I'm guessing one of these days there will be another blue one. These are great for quick gifts.

Then I found some Knit Picks Chroma in my stash - 2 balls of Impressionist. Another yarn no longer available (colorway that is). Because of my running back and forth to California, I wasn't sure I could host Christmas for the family this year. My cousin's daughter volunteered and as a thank you I spent a couple flights making a Molly scarf with the Chroma. It's a simple pattern with a different look.

I also grabbed a skein of Patons Classic Wool from the stash and started making a pair of gloves. The pattern I used is Treads which is a fingerless glove but its easy to just keep going and making the fingers into a full glove. Being a design that isn't fussy looking and the yarn (gray) I'll be able to use these for a guy or girl gift when needed.

The pattern has a braid that requires a paying attention to that row and has linen stitch section to give a bit of interest. All in all I'm enjoying knitting these. (one done - one to go)

I also finished my Desert Star Rug that I was crocheting when I got around to it. It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be and I still need to block it but, here's a shot of the rug pre-blocking.

Finally, I started knitting a lace doily. For a long time I've wanted to﻿ to knit a Herbert Neibling pattern and never got around to it. Frosted Ferns has been translated into English and it's been an interesting knit. It's not your typical lace knit. There's cross stitches, large sections of solid knitting, double yarnovers and more to keep you interested.

So, that's the last couple months, at least knitting and crochet stuff. There's also been quilting and﻿ other things going on but this post has gone on long enough and its Christmas Eve and time to get ready to celebrate.

About Jill

I'm owned by 2 cats, Chief and Bert. They allow me to spend as much time as I want knitting, quilting, and hanging out on the computer as long as I keep part of my lap free for them.
I used to own a shop where we helped people with their fiber arts needs. We had classes and supplies for knitting, machine knitting, quilting, and other sewing.
Right now I'm in corporate America but finding my way back to my passion. This blog is my journey back to knitting and quilting with plenty of cat stories thrown in.
I'm on Ravelry as JillsKnit. This has been my Internet name for over 10 years. It came from shortening the name of my former shop - Jill's All Sew Knit.